Animal Planet (8.29.10)

Our friends Cal and Cheryl have a gorgeous three-story house overlooking Grand Anse Beach. But, that’s not what our kids noticed the most. It wasn’t the pool, the open windows fielding ocean breezes, or that you can watch from the balcony the sun setting on the horizon each and every day. No, it was Buddy and Chippy, the house dogs, the cat, the turtles, and the lizards that they spotted in their yard. Just like our house, even if half a world away, there are others out there who understand what it means to have a zoo at home.

A Little Bit of Memphis (8.29.10)

So, Lloyd decided before we left that he wanted to smoke some pork for our hosts (Cal and Cheryl McPherson). He actually packed hickory chunks and a rib rack! No wonder the suitcase was heavy. After finding some Jack Daniels BBQ sauce in the local grocery here, Lloyd thought he was in hog heaven. That is, until he saw the price tag of his chosen cuts. Apparently, beef tenderloin (which we only serve on Christmas Eve) is less expensive down here than a rack of ribs. For shame! We stayed committed to the task, and Lloyd and Cal smoked (of course there was music and a cigar involved) while the rest of the party lounged by their pool. Dinner was fabulous, and gave us and those around our table just a little bit of Memphis.

Night Lights (8.28.10)

If I could capture a tiny bit of paradise to bottle up and bring home, part of it would be the night lights. Can you see why?

Saturday Night Live (8.28.10)

Every Saturday night, The University Club hosts a beach dinner with live music. The chef here, Mike, is from the UK and possesses talent spanning multiple culinary roots. We ate Indian at the water’s edge while we listened to a live Carib band. With the sounds and breeze, aside from the mosquitoes, the night was magical.

St. George’s Market Place (8.28.10)

To truly discover Grenada, a trip to St. George’s Market Place on Saturday morning is on the list. The Grenadian people are warm and friendly, but in the market, everyone has to make a living. So, because we stick out a bit with our fair skin, we were approached by many a local. Some wishing to sell spices, some vegetables and fruits, and some hand made jewelry. If you practice saying “no” before you go, you might make out with more cash in your pocket than we did. We barely had enough money to afford the Reggae bus back home.

Bird for Breakfast (8.28.10)

Kibbles spent the night with us last night (are you a bit surprised?). We again tried to get him to fly away off our balcony, but, he wanted to remain with Grayson. As she walked down to breakfast this morning, we decided he should come with her. She had him on her finger but, he made his way to his favorite perch. Would you believe that people had the audacity to stare at us while we were eating breakfast? By the end of our meal, though, Kibbles had flown to a nearby tree. Good luck, sweet dove.

Fish Friday Extavaganza (8.27.10)

In the parish of St. John is the fishing capital of Grenada--a town called Gouyave. The community hosts a rustic, open-air seafood bazaar called “Fish Friday” as the name suggests, every Friday night. You walk around in centuries old alleys, and sample the local music, culture, and tastes, some of them unique to the island. The people who live here are the real deal… fishermen that have been laboring in these Caribbean waters for generations. A sample of their specialty is worth the long drive (~1 hour) along the Western coast to get there. Among our favorites? Fish cake, blue marlin, fish kabobs, topped off with nutmeg and cinnamon ice cream.

Red Sky at Night (8.27.10)

Being on land in the Caribbean is different from being on the water. For one, you get to drive up the coast (on the wrong side of the road, mind you) and take pictures of the sunset. Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Our hearts are happy either place.

Marine Scavengers (8.27.10)

A scavenger hunt took place this afternoon (and yes, that’s the ocean that the kids are in), where uncertainty was broken with the spotting of a starfish. Not the big beautiful ones we’d seen here before, but, one small loner, just waiting to be held by little hands. We spent the full afternoon at Grand Anse, with our new friends from Connecticut who handily traveled with an 8 year old boy (Matthew) and 6 year old daughter (Sarah). Competition set in with the young males in who could find the most sea urchin shells and dive for them. Harrison became known as “the expert” and was the official winner. How are we ever going to travel home with this loot?

The National Bird (8.27.10)

Lloyd and I taught our second day at SGU while Keisher (our sitter, pronounced Keisha) and the kids remained at the University Club. When we walked into our room after teaching, Keisher hustled out pretty quickly... and with good reason. The kids had something to show us, and of course they had “rescued” a poor Grenadian dove from the pool! They named him Kibbles and put him in one of the drawers of our hotel room with some french fries and water. You should know that the national bird here is the Grenadian dove, and you’ll be happy to know that the kids were responsible for nursing it’s wing back to health. We tried to let it fly away outside our room (we had a bird releasing party), but, Kibbles actually believed that Grayson was it’s momma, and quite frequently would land on her head. He wouldn't leave her! I only have to place my bets now. There is a veterinary school at St. George’s and if I started paying tuition now, maybe we would be debt free by the time both our children enter the vet school here.

Skype 101 (8.26.10)

Not only was today our first day teaching the medical students at SGU, but, we also had an introduction to Skype with Harrison’s class at PDS. The boys articulated great questions. Harrison discussed changing money and showed them some E.C. of various values. He also talked about the water supply, weather forecast, and beach conditions. What a pleasure to be able to share our experiences with his classmates.

Nuts Over Coconuts (8.25.10)

The Finks are on a mission. We want to find as many island trees that bear fruit that we can and taste each and every one of them. Today was a day that brought forth coconuts. Instead of Grayson climbing the tree, (which wouldn’t have surprised me one bit), the kids brought down 4 coconuts with a single throw of a rock. Lucky no one else was around when the coconuts fell! The chef at the restaurant was pleased to serve coconuts at our table for appetizers (first course milk, second course fruit with brown sugar)… yummy!

Pools of all Shapes and Sizes (8.25.10)

Who needs a pool when you have the ocean, right? The kids, however, are content hopping from one tiny pool into the great big pool and back to another tiny pool again. At the University Club, where the Visiting Professors stay, we are right on the water. They’ve recently renovated their pool side area (which is gorgeous) and so we are hard pressed to do much island exploring on this day. After all, pool hopping can be considered a sport. And after a long day of travel, that’s all the exercise we need.

Hello Grenada! (8.25.10)

First order of business on this day was to find Grayson a swimsuit. We had other important things, too, like contacting the faculty to let them know we’d made it to Grenada safely, setting up internet access so that I could document the trip on our blog (and keep up with the occasional email), changing money over to E.C. (Eastern Caribbean dollars), etc. But as far as Grayson was concerned, today involved nothing more than obtaining the proper clothing in order to go straight to the beach. We did just that. We spent much of the afternoon alternating between Grand Anse Beach (walking and feeding beach dogs) and the Grand Beach Hotel’s pool. No starfish this year (we’re not giving up), but we snorkeled and found a hermit crab and several sea urchin shells, both of which were pretty cool.

A Nap A Day (8.24.10)

Granted, we were tired. We had about 2-3 hours sleep the night before travel and we had woken up at 4AM. But, truly, Lloyd can sleep anywhere, anytime (In the most unusual locations). A San Juan nap was in order, and Grayson was happy to snuggle up, too. Harrison found a more comfortable location to rest.

Lost Luggage (8.24.10)

Our bags were packed. We were ready to hop the flight to Grenada when looking out the window at the Memphis International Airport we watched a curious thing. A big pink bag with “Grayson” written on the side got loaded into the plane next to us. That plane was headed to Salt Lake City, Utah. Grayson was just about to misuse Taekwondo (a No-no at her studio) when Lloyd and I tag teamed, asking each a separate agent about her luggage, receiving responses like, “Well, some bags look alike” and “its really almost impossible, ma’am”. Fast forward 14 hours and you have a little girl crying (on the floor, I might add) at the Grenada International Airport with the customs officer asking (in that wonderful Caribbean accent we love), “What happened to the baby?” Hopefully, with any luck, she’ll have a clean outfit to wear within the next 24 hours.

Harrison's First Day of Third Grade (8.18.10)

Our boy is in the 3rd grade! What a difference a year makes. Take a look at years gone by.





2nd Grade, age 7 (2009-10)





1st Grade, age 6 (2008-09)






SK, age 5 (2007-08)

Grayson's First Day of Kindergarten (8.17.10)

Break my heart. My baby started senior kindergarten this fall, and while I was so looking forward for her to have the excitement and pride that this rite of passage brings, I wasn’t expecting what happened on the morning of her first day of school. St. Mary’s was decorated in blue and white balloons, and all the moms and dads were walking in their girls hand in hand. I was so excited and beginning to park the car, when we began a conversation something like this:
Grayson: “Okay Mom, you can just drop me off here.”
Me: “But, Grayson, see all the moms and dads walking in? I want to walk in with you.”
Grayson: “No, mom. I’ll be just fine.”
Me: “Grayson, please? I won’t hold your hand, hug you, or kiss you. I’ll just follow you in.”
Grayson: “No thanks. I’ll be just fine.”
Me: “You don’t even know where your classroom is. Please let me come in with you.”
Grayson: “Mother, I am in Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Brown’s classroom. I will find it on my own. See ya! I love you.”

And, off she went. Independent with a capital “I”. Sniff, sniff!!!!!!!!!!

The Art of Preserving (August 2010)

The best thing about summer is fresh vegetables… I love everything about them! From picking them from the garden, arranging the different colors on my table, and of course eating them! Last year, I decided to learn the techniques that preserved some of the summer’s fruits (I put up Daddy Joe’s corn). This summer I expanded our pantry to include pickles… dill, bread and butter, half and half, you name it. The kids cut 2 bushels of pickles for our project, and had some fun in the process. We had one minor injury… Harrison’s thumb (healed up nicely, though). Mandy and Andy joined in the fun to make more pickles, peach jam, and pasta sauce. I even dabbled with Lloyd’s favorite …orange marmalade (sort of failed, but he still loves me). Jennifer and I experimented with pear-ginger jam and also more peach (that she and all 4 kids picked from Jones Orchard). We’ve done this for fun, and it’s been hard work! To put this in perspective, each year my Mom’s family put up 500 canners each summer. This was so her family of 9 could eat throughout the winter. Although I don’t want that kind of pressure, I do want to master the art of preserving.

Tante Margot's Visit (7.24.10)

A small reunion took place in late July between two sisters from Berlin. Originally, Tante Margot was supposed to come to Memphis when Tante Ursula visited in June, but, because of a back injury, she waited. Greg accompanied his mother on this trip, which made for a younger generation reunion as well. Although we missed having all 3 sisters together at the same time, Helga felt really well and enjoyed day trips to our house. The talent among these octogenarians is remarkable!

Work Week (at the lake house) July 2010

Friends Val and Kev Frentz came for a lake house visit early in July. It was a work week, and we were grateful for their help. We all were especially thankful for the air conditioner, which was installed just in time. We installed ceiling fans, bought antique chairs to go with the table Daddy Joe made us, painted the bathroom door (child labor), and even found time to explore the lake from the water. And, what’s a work week without a few critters stopping by?